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Lockdown

I got a robo-call from the school district a short while ago. Ruby’s elementary school and another neighboring school went on lockdown this afternoon. By the time I got the call, it was all over. Crisis averted.

What?! What happened? Chills went down my spine.

I puttered around the house for a few minutes. I knew the school would be inundated with calls from frantic parents. I debated about whether to call or not. I mean, it’s all over, right?

I paced around for awhile, and petted Rex. Then I gave in.

I picked up the phone and dialed. I got the machine. I made myself some tea to take up some time and calm my nerves. Coffee would do nothing to help me now. As the tea steeped and steamed, I dialed again.

“This is Mary,”

“Hi…I got the call a few minutes ago about a lockdown. Uh…what happened?” I tried to sound rational. No need to borrow trouble.

“Well, the police were pursuing a suspect in the area. So it’s standard procedure to lockdown the schools. The suspect went up the hill, so all the schools up there were put on lockdown, too.” Mary sounded pretty blase. Standard operating procedure, ma’am.

I flashed back to Ruby telling me they had been doing lockdown drills in class lately.

“We hide under our desks,” she said matter-of-factly, brown eyes serious. She got the message.

Remembering I was still holding the phone, I thanked the school secretary and hung up. While I’m glad safety precautions are in place, it doesn’t help much to think of Ruby in harm’s way while in school. It saddens me to think of the kids having to participate in lockdown drills, much like the bomb drills of decades past. “Duck and cover!’

I don’t like to think about men or kids with guns terrorizing schools. But I know it happens. I’m thanking God it wasn’t today.